"It is not necessary to take revenge for every act," he told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. "Suicide attacks are contrary to Palestinian tradition, are against international law and harm the Palestinian people.

"Children were exploited for these attacks, when they could have made a much more positive contribution."

The former general admitted that he had failed to persuade the Islamic militant organisations to stop suicide attacks and could offer nothing stronger than moral persuasion to enforce his view.

Lt-Gen Moshe Yaalon, the army's new chief of staff, repeated his view that the Palestinian threat was a "cancer" that could destroy Israel. Asked how he would treat the cancer, he said he was applying chemotherapy for the moment, adding ominously: "Some will say it is necessary to amputate organs."

The use of the word "cancer" has shocked some Israelis who do not share the general's hawkish views.

Hemi Shalev, a political commentator, wrote: "The chief of staff's vocabulary is inspired by a world of images that was prevalent in Germany in the 1930s, when the disease was the Jews."

Gen Yaalon made clear that the problem he faced was not military but the cohesion of Israeli society. Any cracks in domestic support for the army would undermine military success, he said.

The army must burn into the consciousness of the Palestinians that violence did not pay. "Even if, tactically, it appears right to withdraw from here or there, from the strategic perspective it is different," he said.

He offered no future for Mr Arafat as leader of the Palestinians and suggested that any elections should be guided by the principles that operated in Germany after the defeat of Hitler.

"Anyone who was a member of the Nazi party was not allowed to be a candidate in the elections there and anyone who is tainted by terrorism cannot be a candidate here," he said.

The chief of staff's view offers no hope that Gen Yihya will receive any concessions from the Israeli army to help him persuade the militant factions to end their struggle. He can expect only constant pressure.

There have been four weeks of relative quiet, with the army holding the Palestinians on the West Bank under constant curfew. A phased withdrawal plan, which was intended to lead to the army's withdrawal from the Palestinian part of the divided city of Hebron, has been put on hold. Recent events have helped to raise the popularity of the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, with 56 per cent saying they are satisfied with his performance, despite a sharp recession and sharply rising unemployment. His improved rating clearly stems from Israelis' greater sense of security.

An 18-year-old Palestinian woman kidnapped at gunpoint was found dead in the West Bank town of Tulkaram yesterday.